Soybean Alternatives

By Loretta Sorensen

**Extended comments highlighted in blue.

Sunflowers, cottonseed possible options

Dairy producers using soybean meal in feed rations may want to consider using some alternate meal sources such as sunflower or cottonseed, as long as those meals remain at a lower cost per ton than soybeans.

The nutrient value of both sunflower and cottonseed meal is comparable to soybean meal. Each producer must evaluate the actual cost of the energy and protein content of his dairy ration and determine which option is most economic for his operation.

To pinpoint the cost of a ration, producers can identify the ration’s energy, metabolizable protein and fiber content, and calculate the quantity of each of those elements that a cow would need to meet her nutrient requirements.

Mike Hutjens, a University of Illi-nois Extension dairy specialist, says the amount of oil meals to be added to a dairy ration depends on the level of supplemental protein needed (for forage quality, milk yield, etc.).

Based on dry-matter content values, soybean meal has the highest percentage of crude protein at 55.1%. Dehulled sunflower meal has the next highest at 49.8%, with cottonseed meal at 45.6% and sunflower meal with hulls at 25.9%. In terms of neutral detergent fiber (NDF)--the bulk or fill that increases as forages mature--sunflower meal with hulls ranks at 40 NDF, dehulled sunflower meal is 25 NDF, cottonseed meal is 26 NDF and soybean meal is 8 NDF.